Choir History

St George's Singers was formed in 1956 by Rev Eric Chapman, Vicar, and Geoffrey Verney, Organist and Choirmaster of St George's Church, Poynton where the Choir still rehearses every Tuesday night. Their dream became a reality due in large measure to the dedication of Arthur Daniels, Churchwarden, and his wife Mary, who became the first Secretary and Treasurer. From an initial rehearsal attendance of 35, within two years the Choir had grown sufficiently to perform Bach's St John Passion.

After Geoffrey Verney's sudden and untimely death in 1964, Duncan Eyre, Organist and Choirmaster at St Peter's in Hale came to ‘help out’ - and stayed for twenty years. He was supported by Tim Hill, accompanist to the Choir for 23 years. During this period the Singers, now grown to 100 voices, performed all the major works of the choral repertoire, highlights being The Dream of Gerontius in 1969 and St Matthew Passion in 1973 with Alexander Young as the Evangelist. In 1976 they were invited to perform The Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Northern College of Music to provide a postgraduate student with experience of conducting large forces. The orchestra for this performance was arranged by a student, Ray Lomax, who became Musical Director of the Singers in 1987.

Ray Lomax, principal timpanist with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, expanded the repertoire of the Choir considerably, giving British premieres of works by Scandinavian composers Otto Olsson and Ingvar Lidholm. In December 1993 the Singers performed to critical acclaim in a Classical Spectacular at GMex in Manchester before an audience of 9,000. Ray also took the Choir to Germany in 1989 and Belgium in 1991, which began a tradition of regular touring. He also directed the Stockport Festival Chorus until his tragically early death in 2002 at the age of only 47.

When Ray left the Choir in 1996 to pursue other interests, St George's Singers was extremely fortunate in attracting Stephen Williams, at that time not yet thirty, to become their Musical Director. Stephen was a chorister at Carlisle Cathedral for five years, and after Leeds University, he studied singing and conducting at the Royal Northern College of Music. He became a music teacher at Manchester Grammar School, but left the security of a job he described as ‘the best in the world’ after three years to pursue a career dedicated to his first love, conducting. He also directed the University of Manchester Chorus, the Chapter House Choir at York Minster, and was Chorus Master of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus in Glasgow. He was a Lay Clerk at Manchester Cathedral for many years and sang regularly in the Daily Service on BBC Radio 4.

Under Stephen’s dynamic and inspirational leadership the Singers went from strength to strength, expanding in numbers, repertoire and reputation. Highlights included an exciting interpretation of Bach's B minor Mass at the Royal Northern College of Music and a moving St John Passion at the Church of the Holy Name in Manchester, both with the Northern Chamber Orchestra. In 2004 the Choir sang the rarely performed Gretchaninov Vespers, singing in Church Slavonic to an appreciative audience. The Choir’s most ambitious venture during this period was Elijah in November 2004 with Sir Willard White, Mark Padmore and Manchester Camerata in a sold-out Bridgewater Hall. The Manchester Evening News reported that “it was the superbly drilled massed voices of the chorus which made the performance”, a judgement with which the audience enthusiastically agreed as the Choir rose for their bow.

The Choir was invited to return to the Bridgewater Hall by the Manchester Camerata on New Year's Eve 2005 to be the chorus in their Opera Gala, and in 2006 - St George’s Singers’ Golden Jubilee season - they returned to the Hall again to perform Bach’s St Matthew Passion with James Gilchrist as the Evangelist. And then, to demonstrate the Choir’s versatility, for something completely different - Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert with jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth at Manchester Cathedral.

The Singers' commitment to new music written by young composers was shown by their organisation of a national composing competition, Fresh Air, as their contribution to the celebrations of the 2000 Millennium. In 2002 the Choir commissioned a setting of Psalm 91 from Sasha Johnson Manning, the young Director of Music at Bowdon Parish Church, and premiered it alongside a performance of Tallis' 40 part motet Spem in Alium, with eight separate Choirs encircling the audience at St George's Church, Stockport.

Stephen also introduced the Singers to Russian and eastern European music with performances of Schnittke's challenging Choir Concerto and Karai's De Profundis, as well as motets by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Glinka. Other innovations included a Midsummer Mozart Festival at St George’s Church in Poynton in 2004, and the church was also the scene for a semi-staged performance of Britten's rarely heard early opera, Paul Bunyan.

In 2006, Stephen’s career took him away from conducting and back to education, as he was appointed Director of Music at Uppingham School. Once again though, the Singers were fortunate to find an outstanding conductor in Neil Taylor. A native of Bradford and former chorister of Bradford Cathedral, Neil Taylor won a Scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1986, where he studied with John Birch and Nicholas Danby. He was Organ Scholar at St Albans Cathedral, and on graduating was appointed Assistant Organist at Norwich Cathedral. In 1997 he was appointed Organist and Master of the Music at Sheffield Cathedral, where he is responsible for the Cathedral Choirs of boys, girls and men.

Neil is a vastly experienced choral conductor. He has premiered many new works, made numerous critically acclaimed broadcasts and recordings with the Cathedral Choir, and has toured extensively on the continent and in the USA. His CD Recordings include Music for a Millennium, a Classic FM Magazine CD of the Year Award Winner, and eight CD recordings with the Cathedral Choir. He has directed and assisted choral courses as far afield as Aldeburgh, Mexico City, and the Eton Choral Courses, and appears frequently as Musical Director and Organist on BBC Radio 4’s Daily Service.

Since his appointment as Musical Director of St George’s Singers in September 2006, Neil has continued to build on and expand the Choir’s tradition for innovation and excellence. In the short time he has been with us, the Singers have performed works by 20th century American composers such as Whitacre, Lauridsen and Bernstein (including Chichester Psalms), presented a programme spanning all decades of English choral music in Elgar and After, and put on two performances of Rachmaninov’s Vespers in the newly renovated Gorton Monastery - the second by popular demand following the sell-out first concert. Haydn’s Creation and Handel’s Israel in Egypt have represented the more traditional repertoire, and in June 2008 Neil made his debut at the Bridgewater Hall with St George’s Singers and Manchester Camerata in Bach’s Mass in B minor, with soloists including Canadian soprano Nancy Argenta and Rebecca Outram.

In addition to our regular series of concerts, St George’s is well known for its Christmas ‘Carols and Brass by Candlelight’ concerts, with celebrity readers and soloists, and for its annual Singing Days. Every year our Singing Day in Poynton attracts over 200 singers from a wide area to learn and perform choral music in a day. Recent works have included all Purcell's operas, Fauré's Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Brahms’ German Requiem.

Annual tours, alternately at home and abroad, have become an important part of the Choir's activities, eagerly awaited by members. Following their first tour under Stephen's direction to Amsterdam, the Choir visited Krakow in 2002 where there was standing room only with crowds round the doors, and not a few tears in the Singers' rendition of Gorecki's Totus Tuus, written for the Pope's visit to his native Poland. The 2003 tour was to the Welsh borders, where they sang to enthusiastic audiences in Brecon Cathedral and Dore Abbey, and sang Choral Evensong in Hereford Cathedral. In 2004 they visited Helsinki and Tallinn, where Stephen Williams had earlier spent three months studying contemporary Finnish and Estonian choral music on a Winston Churchill Travelling Scholarship. They sang four concerts, including one in an extraordinary church in Helsinki carved out of the rock. The tour highlight was a performance of music by Veljo Tormis, Estonia's leading contemporary composer, to an appreciative response by the composer. 2005 saw the Singers touring to East Anglia, performing Britten’s St Nicolas with a local orchestra in a full Aldeburgh Church, where it was first performed and recorded. The tour also included a sell-out performance of Mozart’s Requiem in beautiful Blythburgh Church, and Choral Evensong in Lincoln Cathedral. In 2006, the 50th Anniversary of St George’s Singers and of the Hungarian uprising, St George’s toured to Budapest and Erd, a small town outside Budapest with which Poynton is twinned, singing music by Kodaly, Karai and other Hungarian composers.

The Singers are very fortunate in their accompanists who contribute to the enjoyment of rehearsals, and play a major part in many concerts. Following Andrew Green and Andrew Dean, the current accompanist is Jeffrey Makinson, Sub-Organist at Manchester Cathedral, with Julia Mayall and Tim Kennedy valued assistant accompanists. The Choir is also very pleased to have been able to appoint Matthew Hamilton as Assistant Musical Director in 2007, following Marcus Farnsworth’s departure to pursue his studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

St George's Singers is proud of its reputation as a friendly Choir. The annual Ceilidh, and wine tasting evenings are eagerly anticipated. A group of members meet regularly for walks and pub lunches at weekends, originally to keep in touch during July and August when the Singers take a break, but now throughout the year.

December 2008